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Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > January > 16 > Entry
Flyers need to forget about Fordham game
Dayton needs to turn the page quickly to get ready for a resurgent opponent in Duquesne on Saturday, but it has to be hard for the players to shake the bitter aftertaste of that 72-71 win over feeble Fordham.
Yes, the Rams have a couple of nice freshmen guards in Jio Fontan and Alberto Estwick — both starred on the undefeated prep national champion St. Anthony’s in New Jersey last season and were recruited by bigger schools — but that was the kind of foe that the Flyers flattening during their 14-1 non-league season.
I’ve never seen a more subdued locker room after a win than what I encountered when I interviewed UD players in the aftermath. A stone-faced Rob Lowery looked like he had just made the play that lost a game, not a clutch drive to pull out a one-point victory.
Chris Wright, like the others, was troubled that Fordham had given UD such a scare.
“You’ve got to focus the whole game. You can’t have ups and downs during a game. You can’t have peaks and valleys,” he said. “When you have a lead, you have to continue to play at that level. You can’t let your energy drop off or your focus to drop off.
“We can’t win like that. A win like that, you’re happy you got the win, but you have to understand you could have easily lost that game, and you can’t put yourself in that situation and let it come to that. We have to pick it up. We can’t play like that.”
Certainly not if they want to reach the postseason. The Flyers set themselves up for an NCAA tournament bid with their non-league effort, but two straight clunkers have all but erased the momentum of that feel-good start.
“There’s going to be a lot tougher opponents (than Fordham),” Wright said. “They played well, they played hard. But we can’t let that happen.”
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Comments
By Bill Johnson
January 16, 2009 11:21 AM | Link to this
Doug, Good report. I feel for the players. But one thing keeps haunting me. Does BG take responsibility for the loses? All I ever read is that the players don’t do this or didn’t do that. Perhaps his sense of failure is not reported. Does he accept the responsibility, or does he really believe it is all on his players?By Mongoose
January 16, 2009 12:24 PM | Link to this
Flyers need to forget about feeble Huelsman….he has walk on stats for the last 3 games. Lets see…3-4 on lay ups and a mind boggling 2 boards. Oh thats right “he does other things” Can someone entertain me on the other things?By Megan
January 16, 2009 12:53 PM | Link to this
The Flyers need to banish Little to the bench. I am tired of seeing his unathletic attempts to play basketball. The only thing he can do is dunk… Then they need to put Searcy in for Huelsman. Searcy plays one-quarter the time and is twice as productive. Finally, in relation to the “buy games” issue. Dayton needs to stop wasting money on fielding a glorified D3 football team, and focus on basketball. Explain to me how flying the team to San Diego everyother year for a “league” game is benefitting the athletic department? I am a UD alum and proud of our football history, but let’s be honest…it is a waste of resources. The basketball team should be sacrificing its ability to rise once again to national prominence because they need to pay for a bunch of football wannabees. I can understand soccer and those sports, there is little expense there. Football is incredibly expensive. DUMP IT!By Tom
January 16, 2009 1:11 PM | Link to this
The Flyers are stuggling from the field. Someone needs to look at some stats. How are the top 5 to 7 players shooting. I have looked at some box scores and our bench is shooting poorly. Maybe the starters need more minutes. We can still play 12 guys but 8 through 12 get fewer minutes. We also need tosolve London Warren’s offensive issues. It is going to be very difficult scoring points playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end of the court. How did he score 20+ points in HS? He needs to do nothing but shoot 3’s in practice.By Mongoose
January 16, 2009 2:31 PM | Link to this
Yea Megan, Little is another one. If it aint a two handed dunk, you might as well forget about it. And Luke…..what happened to supposedly “best shot in the country” I’m pickin because I am very unhappy with this team and I don’t wanna have to wait and hope for better things next year.By Bhoops
January 16, 2009 4:42 PM | Link to this
Play Searcy for crying out loud… Unlike Huelsman, he has the potential to finish around the basket. I would be willing to bet Huelsman doesn’t vert over 24 inches. Not his fault, he does not have potential to be a post prescense. He is good for offensive fouls and missed layups. Dude is so in his own head right now. Coach is embarrasing him right now by playing him so many minutes. Searcy is getting better and deserves a shot…By Duke
January 16, 2009 7:58 PM | Link to this
I just don’t understand people like you Megan. Let’s dump football because it’s keeping us from basketball prominence? What is keeping us from the next level is the fact we have a guy who can’t seriously coach and takes on no accountability for his teams play. We have players who are not serious division one talents. Blame it on everyone else, just like you blaming the football program for these problems. Do you suggest we get rid of cheerleading, women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer? All of these make no money for the athletic department and cost a great deal in travel. Yet the football tradition is one of wins and turning out good young men who give back by being productive to society. Maybe the basketball team should learn some lessons from the football program on how to win and move to the next level in their division. Oh by the way they play solid division one teams in football too!